Tara
by RydiaMist
Summary: A 15 year old girl named Tara,a resident of Hong-Nan, is travelling trough the forest, when she runs into Nakago and Yui, thats when things go wrong... rating for language (TasxOC)
1. Tara

"Tara"

Disclaimer: No, i dont own any of the Fushigi Yugi characters, even though i wish i did. Tara is my character though, thus, i own that character.

The bright sun shone in her eyes, she was a girl, the age of 15. Her blonde-brown hair glimmered and the red headband she had tied around her head danced in the wind. Her outfit consisted of a white with gold trimmed large shirt, it was big on her so she wore a karate belt-like thing around her waist, and she wore pants with blue trimmed boots, and a glove on her left hand. Her blue-yellow eyes shone like the sun. As she walked she accidentally bumped into a man, he was tall and had blonde hair, his eyes were sinister looking, he was accompanying a young woman, no older than her. The woman wore odd garbs not like someone of Hong Nan. Her face had a curious expression on it as she asked,

"What's under that glove?" Asked the woman.

Tara's face angered.

"Wouldn't you like to know..."

The man, now upset, grabbed her arm and shattered the bones with a crushing noise. He forcably removed the glove, revealing a Seiryuu mark. Tara yanked her arm away, screaming, then ran. She then rammed right into a man who was standing on the path.

"Ouch... oh my god, i'm so sorry! I was in a hu-" Tara's face stiffened as she dodged the man's staff.

"You, you're a Seiryuu warrior, no da?"

"What? No, i'm not a Seiryuu warrior!" She held her hands up in protest and he noticed something and stopped.

"Hey you, are you protecting the girl? because if you are, i'll kill you."

"Nakago... What interest do you have in this girl? Is it her Seiryuu mark? Or the other one on her right hand?" The blue-haired man asked.

"How do you know about my other mark? It's not very noticable." Tara asked, fear in her voice.

"Well, I have one of those too. No da." The man then showed a red mark, a mark of the Suzaku.

Nakago then prepared for an attack when two more men ran out of the bushes.

"Hey Chichiri, we heard you talking to someone, was it him or that girl?" Asked a purple-haired man.

"Well, Nuriko,Tamahome, I was talking to her because she has both a Seiryuu and Suzaku mark. No da." Chichiri replied.

"She what!" They both asked.

Tara looked down at the ground, ashamed of being the center of attention. Nakago noticed this and prepared to attack while they were all preoccupied or feeling sorry for themselves.

"Now, you die boys." Nakago screamed, causing them all to turn around and look at him.

All of a sudden there was a bright flash of light which turned out to be coming from Tara, and then a huge creature attacked Nakago.

"Well, you can count on me coming back for her, and that's a promise!" Nakago yelled to them.

"Whoa, what was that girl? What was that bright flash of light?" Tamahome said, shcoked at what just happened.

"I...I don't know..." Tara muttered.

The last thing she saw before fainting, was the three warriors walking over towards her falling body.

So, that's chapter 1, i should have chapter sometime this weekend, and please review, but go easy on me, this is my first fanfiction.


	2. Suzaku or Seiryuu?

"Suzaku, or Seiryuu?"

Tara's eyes fluttered open as the sun's rays reached her eyes. She tried to sit up only to feel pain.

"Ouch!" She quietly cursed under her breath as her arm throbbed.

"Oh! You're awake, we should get that fixed." A young boy said as he walked into the room.

"Um, may I know where I am?" She asked, a little dumbfounded.

"Oh, you're in the palace of Hong Nan, and just so you know, I'm Chiriko." The boy replied with a little smile.

"Ok, well, how long have I been out of it?"

"Hmmm, about 2 days." Chiriko replied.

'Oh man, 2 days, that's longer than I thought it had been...' Her head throbbed as she tried to remember what had happened. Chiriko's voice snapped her back to reality.

"Oh yes, that's right, the emperor wanted to have a word with you when you woke up, so I'll lead you there."

"Um, ok, thank you Chiriko." She replied as she still faught to remember the event that had caused her 2 day slumber. Chiriko led her down the long hallways, basically giving her a tour as they continued on.

"All right, we're here, you can go on in and talk to the emperor." Chiriko said cheerfully. Tara nodded and thanked him again. When she walked into the room, the emperor looked up from the chair he was sitting in.

"Ah, you must be the girl, Tara, that Chichiri told me about."

"Um, yes that's me, so what did you need, your highness?" Tara asked, bowing to him.

"No need for the formalities, you can call me Hotohori. And I wanted to talk to you about your Seiryuu mark and Suzaku mark."

"Oh,um, okay." Tara was not at all used to talking to royalty, so she was nervous, and it showed.

"It has been told that there is one warrior who was born on the borders between Hong-Nan and Kuto and had both a mark of the Suzaku and of the Seiryuu, they would be called the "wildcard", and could choose the path they wished to walk, but it would also endanger them if the other priestess was to be searching for her warriors at the same time as the priestess the "wildcard" wished to protect. It appears that you are that "wildcard" of the legends, and our priestess of Suzaku, Miaka wanted you to be on her side. Do you accept?"

This was a lot for her to take in as she noticed what was the other Suzaku warriors and Miaka walk in.

"I accept, I will help the priestess to summon Suzaku." Tara had finally stopped being nervous as the information sunk in, they wanted her help, and if they wanted it, she would accept.

"That's great! I'm Miaka, the priestess, I'm so happy you're going to help summon Suzaku!" Miaka said as she ran towards Tara.

All the other warriors started to walk over towards her too as a soldier ran into the room.

"Your highness! It appears that the Seiryuu warriors are attacking! They've already broken through the first defense."

"All right, thank you." Hotohori answered.

"This is my fault, I'll go stop them, it's the least I can do to repay you for looking after me." Tara said as she started to run towards the door.

Then firey-haired Tasuki yelled at her, "You think you can beat them alone?"

"I can try! But if you're going to help, you'd better hurry." She replied as she ran faster down the hallway.

"Well, let's go help out you guys, we'll show those Seiryuu warriors what we're made of!" Tamahome's voice called to the remaining warriors in the room. Nuriko was next to go, followed by Chichiri.

"Miaka, you stay here so you don't get hurt, we'll take care of this." Hotohori said as he too headed towards the battle ahead.

"Okay, but tell everyone to be careful and make sure they don't die!" Her cheerful voice said as she headed to a spot that she could watch safely.

Tara ran fast and swiftly towards the front gates, followed by the other Suzaku warriors. She could hear the battle cries of the palace's guards followed by the sounds of falling armor. She could only imagine the pain that they were going through to protect the people of the palace, adn she would help to defend them, even if she were to die.

Okay, that's chapter 2, i hope you all liked it, and i should have a new chapter up in the next few days or so, pleae review if you have the time!


	3. Battle of the Seishi!

"Battle of the Seishi!"

Disclaimer: Sorry I didn't do this last chapter, i forgot . ' so i'll just put this in here with this disclaimer if thats alright with all of you. So, on with the show, i dont own any of the characters of Fushigi Yuugi, I wish I did though, that would be awesome, but Tara is my character, thus she belongs to me.

Tara continued to follow the noise of the guards screams of pain. Thank god she got Mitsukake to fix her arm before she ran this way. Up ahead she could see the silhouettes of the seven Seiryuu seishi. Tasuki and Tamahome followed closely behind her as they came closer to the battle awaiting them.

"Those guards aren't dead, are they?" Tara asked, a little nausiated at the sight.

"They probably are, the Seiryuu warriors are relentless and cruel." Tasuki replied to her obvious question. She hung her head a little as she stopped a few feet away from the seven seishi before her.

"What do you people want?" She asked, trying not to look at all the bodies lying on the ground.

"I promised I'd be back to get you, didn't I?" Nakago replied.

"Yeah, well she said she was helping Suzaku no Miko to summon Suzaku, not help you summon Seiryuu!" Tasuki retorted to his comment.

"Kill all but her, we need her to summkon Seiryuu." The Seiryuu warriors then leapt or ran towards the Suzaku warriors ready to kill.

"Heh, you think you can kill me? REKKA SHIN'EN!" Flames shot from Tasuki's tessen and shot towards one of the Seiryuu, Soi, as she headed towards them. Nuriko was dending himself against Suboshi as he attacked. All the Suzaku seishi except Tara were under attack, she was left to watch as her new friends were attacked by the enemy, when a flash of light appeared from her like beofre, but multiple beasts appeared to attack an individual Seiryuu warrior.

"Grr... We'll retreat for now, but this isn't the end, i assure you!" Nakago yelled as he and hte other Seiryuu headed back the way they came, and just as the beasts had appeared, they dissapeared in a flash of light.

"Well, it's just like before. No da." Chichiri said, "Those beasts, they came from you Tara, and it seems to happen when you, or the people you trust are in danger."

"It seems that way, doesn't it...We should keep an eye on that to see if it happens again." Hotohori said.

"What should we do about these gaurds though? They're dead from the looks of it." Tara said, hanging her head a little bit.

"Don't worry about it, you head back to your room, you look tired." Hotohori said. Tara looked at him, then nodded her head and headed back to her room that she had woken up in, that was where her adventure as a Suzaku warrior had started.

Okay, that's chapter 3, im gonna take a day or so brake from updating, but i think 3 chapters is okay for now, anyway, hoe you enjoyed it!


	4. Trapped Thoughts

Trapped Thoughts

Disclaimer: I dont own any of the Fushigi Yugi characters, even though I wish I could, but Tara is my character,thus making her my character.

Tara walked back to her room and sat on the bed. Where had she seen that blonde haired man before? It was bugging her, but she couldn't remember, and each time she tried to, her head hurt. Then a terrible thought occured to her and she uttered one word.

"Amnesia..." Tears prickled her eyes as she came to realize she didn't remember anything from before she woke up. And then there was a knock on the door. She quickly wiped the tears away and walked up tothe door that blocked the outside world from her.

"Who is it?" She asked, almost scared.

"It's me, Chiriko." He replied, sounding concerned. Tara slowly opened the door and let him in, shutting it quietly behind her.

"What is it?"

"Well, you didn't look so good when you started walking back here, so I came to see if you were okay."

"Well, I guess I am, but there one problem..."

"What's the problem?"

"...I think I might have amnesia." She replied, those same tears stinging at her eyes again.

"Oh no, that's horrible! What can't you remember?"

"Everything prior to waking up here. I think I may have hit my head on something really hard, because everytime I try to remember, my head hurts." Tara sat down on the bed as Chiriko began thinking.

"Maybe we should talk to the others, you head for the the throne room, and I'll go get everyone."

"Okay, don't take too long, I'm tired and need to get some sleep." Tara said as they parted ways. She walked down the hall towards the throne room and turned her head to look at the beautiful pink, orange and gold sunset. The clouds were a collage of different colors, then she heard footsteps and saw all the Suzaku Seven and Miaka walking towards her.

"What are you looking at?" Maika asked as she turned her head in the direction Tara's was in to see the sunset just ending.

"I remember seeing a sunset just this one once, I don't know when though, but there was someone else with me. That's all I can remember." She replied to Miaka's question. Tara's headband danced as a breeze of cool summer wind blew by.

"So, how come you can't remember anythin'?" Tasuki asked, to kill the silence.

"I don't know, but all I know is my name and that I'm the "wildcard", and everything you guys have told me since I woke up this morning."

"Perplexing... I wonder if there's any way to fix it." Hotohori said, his eyes closed in thought.

"It just takes time and she'll remember, this happens to some people, and with time they remember everything or close to everything." Miaka said.

"Well then, we'll just have to wait it huh?" Tamahome added. Tara nodded her head silently.

"I'm going to go to bed now, I'm extremely tired fromtoday, see you all tomorrow." She added asshe walked back towards her room, trying to stay awake.

Okay, that's Chapter 4, I hope everyone likes it, I worked hard to think this one up.


	5. Life's Little Memories

Life's Little Memories

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Fushigi Yugi characters, even though I wish I did, but Tara's my character, thus making her mine.

Tara's eyes slowly opened while the moonlight streamed through her quiet room. She silently remembered what her and the other Suzaku warriors and Miaka had talked about while watching the sunset. She untied the headband that was always around her head. She knew there was something important about it, something that was linked to her past. Someone had given to her, and she treasured it dearly, that's all she knew. She retied it around her head and stood up from her bed.

"I wonder if anyone else is awake..." She pondered as she opened the door and walked down a hallway. She saw a figure standing there and she approached them, it was Miaka.

"You couldn't sleep either?" Miaka asked as she turned toward Tara.

"No, I couldn't, I guess I wasn't as tired as thought I was. Anyway, what do you want to wish for from Suzaku, Miaka?"

"I'm not quite sure yet, I have to go to get the Shinzahou first. We were going to leave to go get it when a symbol showed up on the ball Tai Itskun gave me to find the suzaku seishi, then we found you, we plan to leave tomorrow morning." She replied, a little smile on her face.

"Hmm, I can tell it's going to be cold there, so bring some warm clothes Miaka."

"Right, now lets head back to our rooms for sleep, deal?"

"Deal." Tara said, and turned around to walk back to her room.

The next day she awake to a knock on her door. She, still half asleep, blikned a couple times and answered.

"Who is it?"

"It's Tasuki, hurry up 'n get ready or we'll leave without you." He said, and she could hear footsteps walking away.

'Fine then...' She got up quietly, got dressed and headed outside to meet them.

"Morning all." She said, still a little asleep from the rude awakening.

"You ready to go?" Asked Nuriko, as he stood at the docks.

"We... have to go on the boat?" She asked, stuttering.

"Yep, we're gonna sail to get the Shinzahou." Nuriko replied.

'I shoulda known, I shoulda known...'

"Something wrong?" Miaka questioned.

"Uh... Absolutely nothing!" Tara didn't want them to known about her fear of the water and not being able to swim, it was embarrasing.

"Okay then, lets go!" She replied, thinking nothing of it. All the Suzaku warriors but Hotohori boarded the ship.

"I wish Icould go with you, Miaka, but I have to take care of the country."

"It's okay Hotohori... that gives me an idea! Everyone stand over here in a group, I'm gonna take our picture." The Suzaku seven and Tara all grouped together and smiled as the picture snapped and developed. Tasuki started freaking out.

"Hey, it's a doppleganger! It's an imposter!"

"No it's not Tasuki, it's a picture, made from this camera, it's like a painting, but with ink instead of paint." Miaka corrected. Tasuki calmed down at the thought. While this happened, Tara was cautiously looking over the edge of the boat as the waves hit it. It gave her a foreboading feeling as her gut didn't feel too good, she was gonna get seasick. Hotohori got off the boat and waved good-bye as the boat set sail and headed out to the ocean. Miaka walked up to a green faced Tara as she sat on the deck.

"Are you alright?" She asked. Tara only shook her head and groaned.

" I get seasick, and... promise not to tell?" Miaka nodded her head and listened intently.

"I, um, am afraid of water and can't swim..." She looked down as the boat swayed a little under a wave.

"You can't swim?" Miaka said, quite loudly, everyone turnd their heads towards them.

"Oh man..." Was all Tara could say, both embarrased and sick.

"Sorry..." Miaka apologized. Tamahome walked over to them and put his hand on Tara's shoulder.

"Don't worry, nothing's gonna happen." Tara shook her head and pointed towards a sinister group of clouds heading for the boat and scooted closer to the center of the boat. Tasuki wasn't doing so well either as he looked at the menacing waves headed for the boat. Tara felt that foreboading feeling again and hoped that she would come out of this ordeal alive as a flash of memory shot through her mind. It was her and a little boy standing on some docks looking out at the ocean, it looked peaceful enough, but a storm was heading towards the town, one that wouldn't be very nice. She then remembered that little boy giving her the red headband which she wore to this day and he said.

"Take care of yourself, and I promise I'll come back, this is proof, keep it safe till I get back." And she nodded as the boy started to walk away, and she tied the head band around her head, vowing to take care of it.

Ok, I think this chapter is a least a little longer, I hope.. anyway, enjoy!


	6. Water Water Everywhere

Water, Water Everywhere...

Disclaimer: I dont the characters of Fushigi Yugi even if I wanted to, but Tara is my character, thus making her mine.

Tara opened her eyes suddenly as the memory ended and the clouds were straight above the boat, thunder and lightning snapping at the fragile sails of the boat, now shaking violently under the waves of the massive ocean. She could feel her head band starting to loosen, just slightly. She scooted a little closer to the edge, to see if the ocean waves were starting to calm down.

"Nope... at this rate, thestorm is gonna tear the ship apart, and then, I don't even want to think about it..." Her head slumped down a little, and the ferocious wind swept around her, and her headband came loose, falling into the ocean.

"NO! Not my headband!" Her face filled with shock, she got ready to go retrieve her lost item, but was pulled back by someone.

"I'll go get it, you stay here..." A voice said to her, and they tossed their jacket at her. "Wear it, or you'll catch cold."

"Tasuki... you can't swim either, so why?"

"I can tell It's important to you, so I'll go get it." He replied, jumping off the deck. Tara's face was fozen with shock, he had gone to go get it even though he couldn't swim, he could die...

"What an airhead, but I can tell his heart is in the right place...," Tamahome said. "I'll go get him, no doubt by now he regrets doing that." Miaka ran up to both of them, but then tripped on a piece of wood that wasn't properly nailed in, and fell overboard. Tamahome jumped in after her, and to go get Tasuki as well.

Tasuki saw the red headband falling to the bottom of the ocean. He grabbed onto it and smiled to himself as he held into it, but then realized something vital. He couldn't swim...

'Dammit! Now how do I get back to the boat?' Just as he could feel the air leave him, he felt someone grab his arm and pull him to the surface. He gasped and breathed in the precious air.

"Lucky you I found you." Tamahome said, proud of himself for saving Miaka and Tasuki.

"Oh shut up, I coulda gotten back up if I wanted to..." Tasuki said, lowering his head a little bit.

Chichiri and Chiriko lowered a rope as Nuriko jumped in to catch it since Tamahome had his hands full. Tasuki was able to get up before a huge wave swept through the water and started pushing Nuriko, Miaka, and Tamahome away.

"My poor friends, but alas they're dead..." Tasuki said as he held onto the rope.

"We're not dead, you idiot!" Tamahome retorted as the water pulled him through the strong current. Tasuki looked in their direction, and felt bad for having Tamahome jump in after him. Chichiri called down to him as they pulled the rope up and he was safely on deck. Tara looked up from the spot she was sitting on the deck and ran over to him.

"Are you okay?" She was definately concerned.

"Heh, yeah, I'm fine, and I got your headband back." He handed it out to her.

"You got it? Thank you so much!" There was a big smile on her face and she hugged him for a moment and took her headband, rung it out, and tied it around her head.

"It wasn't a problem at all." He said while Tara gave him back his jacket and he put it on.

"Do you think that they'll be okay?" Tara asked, talking about Tamahome, Nuriko, and Miaka.

"We'll just have to follow them. No Da." Chichiri replied. Tara nodded her head slwoly and a wave hit the boat. She dropped to the deck to so if she got dizzy, she wouldn't hurt herself. She scooted over to where Tasuki was to see how he was doing.

"Feeling any better?" She asked.

"A little, but I still feel sick..." He trailed off as he headed for the railing of the boat. She quietly laughed to herself as he sat down on the deck, looking like he was gonna puke again.

That's Chpater 6, sorry I didn't get this up sooner, I was away all weekend! Enjoy!


	7. The Past Revealed: Part 1

The Past Revealed Part 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any Fushigi Yugi characters, but Tara is my character, thus making her mine.

Tara woke up from her light sleep and stretched, last night she remembered they finally found Tamahome, Nuriko, and Miaka. It was quite dark outside as she stepped out onto the deck and noticed it was still night, so maybe she hadn't slept as long as she thought. But there was somethig to this atmosphere, like it was familiar from somewhere. A picture flashed before her eyes of a little girl running away from something...someone... It was a man with blonde hair, he was chasing after her for some reason and then a man and a woman started attacking him to protect her.

"Run now, and don't look back Tara!" The woman said, tears in her eyes.

"Yes, but never forget us, okay?" The man asked, helping the woman to hold off the blonde haired man. Tara nodded her head and ran out of the town. She finally stopped a few hours later to rest. She turned back towards the village to go make sure that her parents were alright and started running again, but was cut off by bumping into someone.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, are you alright?" She asked the stunned boy.

"Yeah, I'm fine, how bout you?"

"Yes, I'm alright."

"Hey, you lost or somethin'?" The boy asked her.

"A little, I can't remember which way I came from, from my village." She replied, and started to walk in the direction she thought was the village.

"That's the wrong way, and by the way, my name's Kouji, what's yours?"

"Mine? It's Tara." She turned around to head in a different direction.

"It's not in that direction either. How about I show you the way?" He said.

"Really? Thank you so much." She followed Kouji as he walked towards the village, and when they got there, she was devistated.

"Th...The village is destroyed!" She yelled as she ran off in the direction that her parents had held off Nakago.

"Hey! Wait for me, I ain't stayin' here alone!" Kouji said, running after the upset Tara. He followed her to a small cave that was dimmly lit.

"No...no, it can't be, they can't be, why?" Tara stammered, tears flowing from her eyes, and hiccuping every once in a while. Kouji walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"So, this is your family, eh? I bet they died protecting you. What do you say we put them to rest then leave? I'm pretty sure my master will let you stay with us."

"Okay..." Tara quietly got up and helped Kouji bury them and the rest of the village.

"There, all finished. Now come on, I'll introduce you to my master." Kouji said. Tara nodded her head, she seemed different now, emotionless, or just too depressed.

When they reached Kouji's master's place, she noticed it was a bandit's lair.

"So you're a bandit?" Tara asked, still in that depressed mood.

"Yeah, I guess I left that part out, but you don't have to be one, I'll explain your situation to the master, just wait here a moment." Kouji disappeared through a door and returned a few minutes later.

"He said you could stay, I'll show you to your room, this way." Kouji then lead her to her room and helped her set up.

"Thank you Kouji, for helping me."

"It's no problem at all, just don't let the other bandits push you around."

"I won't." 'Because if they tried they wouldn't stand a chance...' Tara then hopped on the bed and fell asleep almost instantly, having nightmares all night.

While she was sleeping, Kouji was talking to the master about her situation.

"She doesn't smile like she did before this happened, maybe we should try to help her, is there anyone here who can help her master?"

"I believe there is one person, he's a new member, I'll introduce them tomorrow. Now you go get rest, you'll need it." The master replied. Kouji nodded and bowed, then left the room, hoping it wasn't a total idiot who was gonna help her.

The morning came soon enough and Tara stretched to wake up. She then opened the door to find a note on it. She read it to herself so no one would wake up.

"The master wants to see you, so you might want to go there as soon as possible. Signed, Kouji." Tara nodded to herself and walked off in the direction of that huge room she had seen before.

"Ah. Good morning Tara, I see you got the note that Kouji left for you. Which brings me to the point. I want you meet this little fellow. He will be your guide around here and around the mountains and town, so be nice to one another." The master gave the boy a shove towards her. He was maybe a year older than her and didnt look like the happiest person on earth. Tara gave a little wave as he quietly walked over to her.

"I don't like girls, so watch your back." He said. She quietly put her leg out and he tripped over it, proving her point. She walked out of the room and down the hall.

"Keep an eye on her, alright?"

"Yes, master." The boy replied and ran down the hall after her.

Okay, that's the next chapter! I hope you all like it! I'm a very happy perosn today becuase its only 11 more days to my birthday!


	8. The Past Revealed: Part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Fushigi Yuugi, but Tara is my character.

Author's Note: Hi people, sorry that its taken me forever to update, please forgive me! I was really busy with homework and then my birthday came up, but im updating now!

The Past Revealed: Part 2

Tara continued to walk down the hallway as the boy ran after her.

"Would you slow down already?" He continued to run after her, breathing hard. Tara was in mid thought, remembering what had happened and where she was now.

"They're dead..." Her voice trailed off and she collapsed on the floor, crying. The boy caught up to her, and noticing her crying, handed her a hankerhcief.

"Here. Just don't think that i'm gonna be nice to you all the time, I jsut don't like seeing people cry, that's all."

"...Thank you..." Tara slowly took the hankerchief from him and dried her tears. She held it back out to him.

"Keep it, I don't need it." The boy said, turning his head away. Tara got up and looked at him.

"What do you have against girls, anyway? Not everyone is a bad person, take these bandits for instance, i know that at least two of them are nice including your leader."

"It's none of your business why I hate 'em." He looked back at her and noticed that even though she seemed there, her eyes showed she wasn't really, it was just a shell talking to him. Tara nodded her head.

"Can you take me outside please? Oh, and I didn't catch your name." She looked at him.

"Just call me T-kun, how about you, what's your name?" He looked at her, still frowning.

"Mine is Tara."

"Well follow me Tara, the outside is this way." He pointed in the direction that she had been walking in. Tara followed him and when they got outside she saw what looked like a miniature forest.

"Wow, it's beautiful." She sat down in a small patch of sunlight, the rays of hte sun beaming through the trees.

" Didn't think that a little forest could grow in the mountains, did ya?" T-kun said, obviously proud of the forest. Tara shook her head and looked at a little flower sprouting through the grass. Just then they heard someone heading their way, and Kouji stepped outside into the sunlight.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" He asked and sat down near where Tara was sitting.

"I'm looking at the flowers sprouting." She replied, looking back down at a little purple flower.

"Nothing much, Kouji, so what's going on?" T-kun asked, looking back at the doorway they had walked out from.

"Boss is getting ready to go down to a small village at the base of the mountain, he wants you to go with him. I'll look after her while you're gone." Kouji said, watching a bird fly by.

"O.K., look after her all you want, its not like I care." T-kun said, walking back into the lair.

"He's lying, he does care, he takes responsibility for you, so just ignore him if he says stuff like that." Kouji said, trying to kill the silence.

"How is it, a group of bandits can grow a forest? Aren't they all too busy stealing from villages?" Tara asked, as she got up from where she was sitting, and brushed the dirt off of her.

"Well, some of us have more time on our hands then other people do." He got up too.

"You hungry?" He asked her. Her reply was a nod of the head.

"Okay then, let's go get some food." As they walked through the lair, she noticed that there weren't as many people walking around or making noise s before.

"How many of them went down to the bottom of the mountain?"

"Oh, just enough people for in case of villagers attacking us. The boss is teaching "T-kun" how to use the tessen."

"The "tessen"? What's that?"

"It's a magical fan that can shoot out fire when the incantation is said. Only a select few people know how to use it or get to learn how. It's an honor to learn how to use it." Kouji said. Tara jsut looked like she was spaced out after that. After they ate she heard many voices.

"They're back already? That didn't take very long." Kouji said.

"You wait here, I'll be right back." He said. Tara just sat there, with the spaced out expression again. One of the bandits walked by and noticed this, tapped her on the head, but then she starting glowing and a creature chased after him, this caused an uproar and the boss and the other bandits came running in.

"What the hell is that?" Asked T-kun, his face surprised as he ran up to Tara. He started shaking her and she snapped out of it, the creature dissapearing. Tara's eye's were still spaced out, but she was aware of what was happening now.

Later that evening she was called into the boss' room. She quietly stood there. T-kun and Kouji had been called in too.

"Tara, do you know what happened earlier?" He asked her paciently.

"No, sir, I don't know what happened, but I know it wasn't normal."

"That's right, now I would like to know the cause of this, do you have any strange marking on your body?" He added.

"Well, there are marks on my hands, but that's it." She said, holding out her hands. On each hand was a mark, one blue, the other red. The boss seemed to know what these were and asked her to walk closer so he could look at them. After a few moments he stopped looking at them.

"She's going to need a guardian all day long, these marks could bring danger at any time. So I'm appointing you two as her guardians. Both T-kun and Kouji both nodded.

"You are all dismissed for the night."

Months passed and they all became best friends, but then the boss got ill. Tara had begun smiling again and she was back to the way she was when Kouji first met her.

"Is he going to be alright?" She asked, standing with Kouji and T-kun.

"They said it's really bad, that he might not pulled through." Kouji replied.

"I'm gonna go find some medicine!" T-kun said.

"I'll leave tomorrow and be back soon." He added. Kouji and Tara looked at him.

"Just make sure to be careful, promise?" She said, concerned.

"You bet I'll be careful, if i die before the medicine is brought here then what'll happen?" He said, starting to laugh.

The next day, Kouji and Tara were ready to see him off.

"Here Tara, just to show you that I'll keep my promise, I'll give you this bandana, it means that I'll come back safely." He handed her the red bandana.

"I'll hold you to it." She took the bandana and tied it around her head. Kouji walked up to him and slapped him hard on the back.

"Take care buddy!" He said. T-kun just smiled and smacked him back and started walking away.

Oh boy. Finally finished this chapter, I hope its longer then the usual ones. Anyway enjoy! (Oh and see if you can guess who "T-kun" is! I know its probably painfully obvious...)


	9. The Dreaded Woman's Island

Author's Note: To reply to your review Pil-Z, you'll have to wait and see if he remembers her, it's a secret for now, but it should be revealed within the next few chapters!

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Fushigi Yuugi, but Tara is my character

The Dreaded Woman's Island

The boat sailed along the sea and something could be spotted on the horizon. An island. Chiriko looked at the island, something triggered in his brain.

"Um you guys, maybe we shouldn't stop there." He protested. Tamahome smiled.

"Nonsense, we'll just walk through like tourists!" Tamahome grinned and looked at the others. Tara was sitting near the side of the boat, looking a little green, Tasuki was being paranoid and looking around the boat.

"Whatever we do, can we get off the boat soon?" Tara asked, her head hanging low as they went over another wave. Miaka walked over to her and sat with her.

"I wanna get off soon too Tamahome." Miaka looked at him.

"Then it's settled! We get off on the island!" Tamahome said, helping Mitsukake set the sails to go to the island.

Within the hour they were at the shoreline. Chiriko ran up to Tamahome.

"Tamahome, men aren't allowed on this island!" Chiriko said, waving his hand around in the air. Tamahome looked at him, then looked at himself. Silence.

"Well then, us guys, I guess, are going to have to dress up as...girls." His head hung low and Tasuki started yelling out profanity. Chichiri hit him in the back of the head.

"Quiet Tasuki, they don't know that we're here yet!" Chichiri frowed. Miaka looked at the guys, while Tara was thinking.

"This I can't wait to see!" Tara and Miaka said in unison, big smiles on their faces. The guys looked at them, scared.

After dressing them up, and themselves.

"I HATE this! Why do we gotta do this!" Tasuki shouted, while he was wearing the dress, with flowers in his hair. Tamahome grimaced.

"Do you know how emberrassing it is for the one you love to see you in a dress?" Miaka and Tara couldn't stop laughing at them.

"Stop laughing!" Tasuki yelled, his face starting to turn red. Mitsukake didn't look anything like a girl, and Chiriko seemed to fit it perfectly. Chichiri used his magic to make himself look like a girl, he would be fine, Miaka put flowers in her hair and wore her school uniform, Nuriko dressed up like he used to when he pretended to be a girl, and Tara wore a dress and tied her already short hair into the bandana. Most of them looked the part, but Mitsukake was basically a lost cause... a group of people talking could be heard as they walked closer.

"Oh! Look everybody, visitors!" One said, then saw Mitsukake. Two other women walked up to him and grabbed his arms.

"Nice try buddy, but we can tell you're a guy." Mitsukake looked back at them as he was taken away. They all looked at Chiriko.

"So what exactly happens to guys?" Tamahome asked. Chiriko looked at him.

"I'm sorry you guys, when the character on my foot dissapears, I'm no longer a genius." Tamahome looked at him, then everyone else.

"Well, I guess we're just going to have to hope they don't kill him..." Tara said.

Some of the other women walked up to them.

"Welcome to our island travelors, do you need a place to stay?" Miaka looked at them then nodded.

"Then follow us, we'll pair you up and show you to your rooms." Another woman said. They followed the women to a small village and then to a huge house.

"Alright, you, you and you will go in one room, you and you will go in another, and then you two will go in one. They were lead to their rooms then the women left. Miaka looked at Tamahome.

"I have to be roomed with you? Just don't sneak up on me in the middle of the night!" She said.

"I wasn't planning to!" He retorted, turning away from her.

Meanwhile, Tara, Chichiri and Tasuki were a card game with some cards Miaka had.

"Uno." Tara said, holding onto her one card. Tasuki had ahuge pile of cards, obviously doing the worst.

"I swear you are cheating, dammit!" Tasuki said, trying to hold onto the massive pile.

"Or maybe you're just losing, no da." Chichiri said, putting down a blue card on the pile. Tasuki picked up another card and added it to his pile.

"God dammit!" He yelled as his pile of cards fell ontothe floor, going all over the place. Chichiri and Tara ignored him and she placed her last card down onto the pile.

"I win!" She said jumping up and landing on Tasuki's hand which was reaching for a card.

"Ouch! Bloody hell woman! You stepped on my hand!" He hit her on the head with his tessen which was sitting on his bed.

"Hey, don't hit me!" She smacked him back and they got into a fight. Chichiri sat there picking up cards as a dust cloud with them fighting could be seen behind him.

"Be quiet no da!" Chichiri hitting them both on the head with his staff. They both sat back down, rubbing their heads. Tara smiled.

"Let's play again!" She said. Chichiri had finished picking up the cards and put them in front of her and she started shuffling.

Nuriko and Chiriko were talking when he stalled.

"I remember about this place again! I remember what they do to men!" He stood up. Nuriko looked at him.

"Well what do they do to them?" He asked.

"They either kill them or gouge their eyes out and use them." Chiriko replied. Nuriko jumped up and smacked a hole in the wall. Tara, Chichiri and Tasuki looked at the wall and Nuriko.

"Well hi there Nuriko, Chiriko, wanna playcards?" She asked.

"No time for that, we have to save Mitsukake!" Nuriko explained the situation to them and they all got up, Tara put the cards in her pocket. Nuriko smashed a hole in the wall that was connected to Tamahome and Miaka's room and explained to them too. Soon enough, they had all split up into groups to look for Mitsukake. Tamahome and Tasuki, Tara and Chichiri, and Miaka, Nuriko and Chiriko.

Chichiri and Tara ran down a hallway and were spotted by a woman.

"There are some men!" Tara clenched her fists.

"Excuse me? I'm a girl!" Chichiri grabbed her and yanked her in the other direction as they were followed by some women.

Tasuki looked around the corner, then at Tamahome.

"The coast is clear, this way." They jogged quietly down the hallway and some of the women saw them.

"Get them!" They turned around and ran the other way.

Nuriko, Miaka and Chiriko had better luck and weren't spotted. They noticed a cell up ahead and inside Mitsukake was sitting on a bench. Nuriko pulled he bars off and Mitsukake walked outside.

"Thank you for saving me, I wasn't sure what they were planning to do to me." Mitsukake said. They were silent as they noticed he was still wearing the dress. They waited for him to change before looking for the others.

Chichiri and Tara rounded a corner and smacked right into Tamahome and Tasuki.

"Hey you guys, did you find him?" Tamahome asked, standing up.

"Nope, did you?" Tara replied, and he shook his head. They all walked down another hallway and saw the others.

"Way to go you guys, you found him. Now let's get out of here!" Tamahome said, and they all ran for the exit.

"My god, more water?" Tasuki said.

"Hey, there's a boat, no da!" Chichiri said. They all ran for it as a group of the women chased after them with bows and arrows. As the ran, the arrows just missed them and they set the sails on the boat. The boat sailed towards the continent that had the shinzahou and they were safe for the time being. They all breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. Tara looked at them.

"Anyone for a game of cards?" She said, smiling.

Okay! Another chapter done! choir sings I hope you all like this one.


	10. Journey Through the Sea

Author's Note: Everyone is telling me to make my chapters longer, and to all of you who say that, I'm trying, really I am! It's hard though because i use WordPad to write my fanfiction, but I swear, I'll give it an honest effort to make them longer, really I will! and the reason there are spelling mistakes is becuase when i write, I get into the story and forget to check it over.Now back to your regularly updated fanfiction.

Disclaimer: I don't own any Fushigi Yuugi characters, but Tara is my character

Journey through the sea

The little boat slowly made it's way across the sea, the deep blue water attacking the boat in waves. Some of the passengers didn't like it at all, and were showing it while the others mostly tried to avoid them and ignore them.

"We've been on this god damned boat for forever! I want off!" Tasuki complained, in his overly paranoid state to the point that his eyes were constantly moving, looking at other people. Tamahome winced when he looked at him.

"Watch where you point your eyes, some people might not like it and prove it to you." He said.

"You shut the hell up, I'll point my eyes where I want to!" Tasuki retorted, his eyes looking away from Tamahome now, and at Tara, who was trying not to look at her surroundings at all, her eyes squeezed shut.

"What's your problem?" Tasuki said, rather rudely might I add. Tara opened one eye just a little and focused on him.

"Don't bug me if you want to live, carrot top." She said, her eye squeezed shut again. Tasuki didn't like that last remark one bit and stomped over to her. He took out his fan and got ready to burn her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." She added.

"Yeah? Well you're not me, so what are ya gonna do about it?" He was grinning now, his fangs showing. Tara slowly got up, her eyes still closed and stepped into a fighting position. She stepped forward just the littlest bit and she reached out and grabbed the fan from him.

"Hey, you can't do that, that's cheating, just like with the card game!"

"I won that fair and square, you're just a sore loser. Now, either you apologize, or I throw this over the edge." She said, dangling it just a little over the edge of the boat.

'I didn't think she'd actually hold it over the edge... but I don't wanna apologize!' He noticed her hold it farther over the edge, to the point where she had to hold onto the boat to stay balanced. Tasuki's eye's were wide open now, and let out a huge sigh.

"Fine, I'm sorry." He said.

"Say it like you mean it." She retorted, holding it out even farther. Tasuki gasped, afraid of if she let go of the tessen. By now everyone was watching as they bickered like little kids. They were all trying to hold in their laughter.

"Okay! Okay! I'm really really sorry!" And under his breath he muttered,

"Yeah, sorry that you're gonna get fried when i get it back." Apperantly Tara heard that comment becuase she held it out even farther, but maybe a bit too far because she started to lose her balance.

'If I give him back the tessen, maybe i can lose some weight and get my balance back... wait a minute... tessen, where is that familiar from?' Unfortuantely she didn't get to finish her sentence since she started tipping over the edge. She tossed the tessen backwards and Tasuki caught it and put it back where it usually rests. His face was filled with triumph as he looked at her swaying back and forth trying to keep her balance. He walked over to her and stood there.

"I can help you if you like, you know, end your misery by pushing you overboard."

"You wouldn't dare do that." She glared at him, still swaying back and forth, her arms waving around in the air, and unfortunately for Tasuki, one smacked him straight in the face. she started laughing, but didn't get to for long, she finally lost her balance and fell forwards, smacking her head on the edge as she fell. Nuriko raced over and grabbed her before she could fall in the water.

"Ouchie... that hurt!" Tears started welling up in her eyes and she tried to rub them away only to have more take their place. She scuttled away to the other side of the boat not wanting them to the see that it was easy to make her cry. Tasuki rubbed his face where she had punched him.

"Serves you right you little brat." He said. Tara turned her head slightly to look at him and he saw the tears starting to flow.

"Yeah? Well bite me!" She chucked a piece of wood at him only to have him burn it up, but unfortunately he forgot that the boat was made of wood... (you can all imagine what was to happen next..) And the deck caught fire. Tara's eyes went wide and she saw a flashback of what Nakago had done to her town. Killed everyone and burned it.

"Put.. It... Out! Put it out!" She managed to say in between sobs. They all were grabbing water and putting out the flames and in a few minutes, the fire was gone. Miaka walked over to Tara, who was sitting as far away from all of them as she could, huddled in the corner.

"Hey, are you alright?" Miaka asked, placing one of her hands onto her shaking shoulder.

"I was afraid... Afraid that what happened to my town was going to..." Tara cut off her sentence and started to cry harder. Miaka kneeled down and looked at her.

"Hey, we're all alright, see? No one is injured and the boat's been fixed. And you remembered something, even if it wasn't the best memory ever." Miaka said. Tara nodded her head and stood up slowly.

"Actually, I've remembered quite a bit, but there was never time to tell you guys." She said, rubbing the last of her tears away.

'And now I have stuff to blackmail Tasuki with...' She said to herself.

"Now lets go get the Shinzahou!" She said, and jumped up and down. They all looked at her and smiled.

In the next few hours they had gotten closer to Hokkan. Tara was still distancing herself from the others, she was standing at the edge of the boat, thinking to herself. Her thoughts were broken from the sound of someone standing next to her.

"Hey, you finished your mental breakdown?" Asked the bandit.

"Yep. And I feel much better now, now that I've told everyone I'm starting to remember stuff." She said, smiling.

"So, what else have you remembered?" He asked, staring out at the blue ocean that surrounded the boat.

"Enough for the moment, "T-kun". Tasuki looked at her.

"Heh, yeah, it's me, took ya long enough to figure out." He said looking back out towards the ocean, smiling.

"Maybe, but it shouldn't take long to tell everyone your nickname." Tara replied, turning around towards the others.

"Hey, wait a minute! You wouldn't tell them, would ya?" He asked, running after her, starting to panic.

"I dunno, you offered to push me overboard, so I think I'll return the favor by offering to tell them." Tasuki grabbed her arm.

"You can't! They won't think I'm tough anymore!"

"What do I get out of it?" She said, looking at the bandit, who was freaking out still.

"I'll play cards with ya for a week!" He said, letting go of her arm.

"Deal! And you have to promise not to swear when you lose." She said, pulling the cards out of her pocket and shuffling them.

"Fine, you win, I won't swear, promise!" He said, starting to calm down a bit. Tara smiled and walked over the others to ask if any of them wanted to play too. Tasuki breathed a sigh of relief.

'Phew... safe for now, and I pray to Suzaku that she doesn't say my nickname when I do swear...' He walked over towards the other Suzaku warriors and the priestess, smiling to himself as he did.

"Okay! Let's play Uno!" Tara said, dealing out the cards to everyone as the blue sea took them to Hokkan at a safe pace.

"I haven't played "cards" or "Uno" before, how do you play?" Asked Hotohori, picking up his pile of cards and looking at them, confused.

"Well, with this game, you have to match the colors and numbers of the cards and when you're down to one card you say "Uno"." Miaka said, explaining the rules to everyone and picking up her cards. After a little while, Tasuki had accumulated a huge pile, and so had Nuriko, Mitsukake had gotten rid of all his cards, making him the winner, they were just finishing off to see who the loser was. Chiriko placed down a yellow card, finishing off his cards, he came in second. Next Tamahome placed down a card and looked at his remaining card.

"Uno." He said, feeling rather proud of himself. Miaka had to pick up another card and so did Tara. Chichiri put down a card and held onto his other four. By now, Tasuki was fairly pissed, but was trying to refrain from swearing, he was gonna explode. He placed down a card and sighed.

"HA! This devil's game isn't going to beat me again!" Nuriko placed down a card too and smiled.

"Looks like me and you are tied for the moment Tasuki." Nuriko looked at him and noticed that he was glaring at him.

"Aww, turn that frown upside down Tasuki, this is supposed to be fun!" Tasuki just glared at him again. Tamahome put down his final card, a red seven and smiled.

"Looks like I came in third. I think that's pretty good for my first time playing."

"It is Tamahome, especially in a big group like this, its harder to win." Tara replied. Meanwhile Miaka placed down a card and looked at Tara.

"Your turn." She said. Tara nodded and put down a card.

"Uno!" She said. Tasuki looked at her.

"You're really getting into this game." He said, trying to hold onto all his cards. Chichiri picked up a card then placed it down.

"Your turn Tasuki, no da." He said. Tasuki placed down a card and almsot dropped all his others. Nuriko had to pick up a card and sighed.

"Looks like I'm losing at the moment." He quietly muttered. Miaka placed down a card and smiled.

"Uno!" She yelled. Tara picked up another card.

"Hey, why hasn't Hotohori gone?" She asked, and looked over at where Hotohori was sitting. He had fallen asleep. Chichiri just placed another card down. Tasuki placed down another one of his cards and noticed his pile had gotten smaller. Nuriko finally put down another card and smiled to himself. Miaka placed down her final card and smiled.

"I'm fourth, I'm not the loser." She said, standing up and brushing the dirt off of her skirt. Tara put down one of her two remaining cards.

"Uno! Again." She said. Chichiri put down another card, he was down to two now. Tasuki placed another card down and realized he was down to four now.

"See, I told you this game wasn't going to beat me again!" He said, proudly. Nuriko put down another card, he was down to six. Tara put down her final card and smiled.

"I'm fifth, and that was a great game! We're definately gonna have to do this again!" She said, still smiling. Chichiri put down a card.

"Uno. No da." He said, holding his final card. Tasuki put down another card, he was definately doing better this game. Nuriko put down a card too. Chichiri had to pick another one up and keep it. Tasuki placed another one down, he was tied with Chichiri now. Nuriko put a card down. Chichiri placed one down.

"Uno." He said. Tasuki had to pick another card up, and Nuriko was tied with him again. Chichiri placed down his final card and stood up.

"I'm sixth,now it's just them left, no da." Tasuki and Nuriko were tied for the next twenty minutes until finally Nuriko beat Tasuki and came in seventh.

"Looks like I beat you this game Tasuki." Nuriko said, quite proud with himself. Tasuki was pissed off and was about to swear, when he saw Tara looking at him. He stopped himself and stomped to the other side of the boat.

"Man, he's such a sore loser." Tara and Tamahome said in unison.

"I heard that!" He replied, and fried them both at the same time.

Okay! Another chapter down! I hope this one was longer, I tried really hard! And I'd like to say thank you to all the people who have reviewed so far, especially you Pil-Z, you've been reviewing since the early chapters and I really appreciate it! Bye bye for now and see you all next update!


	11. Entering Hokkan

Disclaimer: I don't own any Fushigi Yuugi characters, but Tara is my character.

Entering Hokkan

The Suzaku seishi all got off the boat and looked at their surroundings. The sun was shining, but it was freezing outside. Tara and Nuriko walked over to Tasuki.

"Tasuki-kun! make a fire with the tessen! Please?" Tara asked, Nuriko tugged on his shirt, which felt like he was being pulled down to Tasuki.

"I ain't using my powers for that, you'll just have to deal with the cold." He said, shrugging after getting Nuriko to let go of him. They looked at him as if they were gonna murder him and he set a little fire with the tessen, smiles back on their faces. Tamahome and Chichiri were trying to figure out where they had to go, and just randomly picked a direction.

"Okay then, it's settled, we'll go... is that North, or South?" Tamahome asked. Chichiri looked in the direction.

"I believe that would be West. No da." Chichiri replied looking at his surroundings again. Tara looked at the path ahead of them.

"This place almost seems familiar to me, but I'm probably just imagining it." She finished, but felt a shiver go down her spine.

"What's the matter Tara?" Nuriko asked, looking concerned.

"This feeling... more then nostalgia, it's more like deja a vu to me. Like something bad is gonna happen." Tasuki smacked her on the back.

"Aw, nothin's gonna happen to any of us here! we're gonna get the Shinzaho and go on our way to summonin' Suzaku!" He said to the group. They replied with nods of their heads.

"We're so close to the Shinzaho, let's continue." Miaka said as her stomach growled. Everyone looked at her as she looked down at her stomach and laughed.

"I guess I'm hungry again..."

"Maybe we should find a place to stay first." Nuriko said, still putting his hands near the heat of Tasuki's tessen.

The group of warriors and their priestess walked down the path and saw a village up ahead. It wasn't a very big village, but it seemed to function well enough on it's own. One of the male villagers walked up to the group and smiled.

"You travellers must be exhausted and hungry, please stay here as long as you need to."

"Why thank you. We appreciate it." Miaka said as the man led them to the village leaders house. The house was bigger then all the others, but not by much. When they walked inside of the house it was much bigger than it had been when they were outside. At the back of the house they saw a chair and a man was sitting in it, he was old, but not very elderly, maybe he was in his early to mid fifties. He scanned the room looking at the Suzaku group and smiled.

"You travellers are welcome here for as long as you like, it is our pleasure to help you out, Suzaku seishi and priestess.

"Thank you so much. We were wondering if you knew the tale of the Shinzaho." Tamahome said.

"You all might as well take a seat, this may take awhile." The leader said, sighing. They all took a seat on the floor around a nearby wood table.

"Long ago, a girl decended down from the skies and became the priestess of Genbu. She gathered together her celestial warriors and prepared to summon the beast god Genbu. After summoning the beast god she soon returned to her world, while being devoured by Genbu. This is the tale of Genbu. But before she left, she gave up an item, which became the Shinzaho that you seek. I cannot tell you the whereabouts of this mythical item for we here at the village do not know, but you amy find the answer in the city near the mountains, now go and rest." They all sat there for a moment before quietly getting up and splitting ways around the village.

Tara walked in the direction of a patch of trees and noticed the old gnarled roots of hte biggest tree there. It's branches spread out like the rays of the sun in many directions. She thought back to a memory of her childhood of which she was climbing trees and decided to climb this one. She jumped and grabbed onto a lower branch and hoisted herself onto it. She then reached for another branch a little higher up than the first. she pulled herself up higher and was about half way up to the top when Tasuki saw her in the corner of his eye.

"What're you doing up there?" He asked, standing under the tree now.

"I'm trying to get to the top, what else? I remember when I was little I used to climb trees with my brother, and he'd help me, but I wanna see if I can do it on my own now." Tara replied inbetween taking breaths. Tasuki just looked at her sideways and started laughing.

"What's so funny? Why are you laughing?" Tara asked and she pointed down at him but lost her footing on the branch she was on and fell. She came cascading down the huge tree smacking into a branch every once in a while yelling the whole way down. Tasuki caught notice of this right away and stationed himself in a spot that he could catch her. She smacked her arm on another branch and felt blood rushing to the area as she continued to fall. She grabbed onto a branch on her way down but couldn't keep her grip on it and her hand slipped from the branch, causing her to continue her journey to the ground. She felt something grab hold of her as she came close to the ground. She opened her eyes to see Tasuki looking down at her.

"You okay?" He asked her as she started to blush.

"Y-yeah, I think I'm okay...ouch!" She yelped as she tried to move her left arm. Tasuki set her down on the ground and she noticed he was blushing too.

"I'll go get some bandages, you stay here." He said while starting to head off in the direction of the village.

'Was he...blushing?' Tara asked herself as she poked her left arm and winced. She saw Chichiri walking by and waved with her right arm.

"Hey, Chichiri!" He turned and smiled and waved back.

"What're doing? No da." He asked kneeling down beside her.

"Just waiting for Tasuki to get back with the bandages, I fell out of that tree." She pointed to the tree in question.

"How bad are the wounds?"

"Well, i think I might've broken my left arm, and i have a few cuts and bruises, but nothing worse than those." She replied, smiling.

"I should be okay by tomorrow."

"Probably, but that broken arm might wil take a little longer, so if we get in a battle, Mitsukake can fix it. No da." Chichiri said.

"I'll wait with you until Tasuki gets back." He added, sitting down of the grass and setting his staff down.

"Thanks Chichiri." She said.

"When I get better, I'm gonna climb a high tree and make it tothe top on my own, it's something I need to accomplish for someone." They heard footsteps behind them and turned to see Tasuki with the bandages.

"Chichiri, do you know how these work, I've never used 'em beofre." Tasuki said, setting them down.

"I can try, but I can't promise anything. No da." He replied, picking up some the bandages and wrappng them around Tara's arm and afterwards she stood up.

"This should do, thanks Chichiri, Tasuki, now if you'll excuse me I'm gona go bug Nuriko."

"She doesn't seem very hurt to me." Tasuki said.

"Maybe not, but she's probably hurt emotionally and just doesn't want to show it. No da." Chichiri said, standing up.

"Come on, everyone is heading back now, it's dinnertime, that's what I came to tell you guys." Tasuki stood up and walked towards the village follwed by Chichiri.

Dinner was quite eventful, everyone was talking about what they had done that day and everybody was asking what had happened to Tara so she told her story of the adventure of climbing the tree. Miaka poked her arm and recieved a smack to the head for doing so.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

"Well, one, it's reflexes, and two, I thought you might like to know painful it is when someone pkes my arm." Tara replied. Miaka looked at the girl beside her.

"I feel sorry for you, I wouldn't be able to handle that kind of pain. It'd be too, well, painful." Miaka said, beginning to eat her food again. After dinner everyone thanked the cook and headed off to their rooms for the night. Tara and Miaka headed off to theirs talking about the day again on their way after saying good night to the others. Tasuki and Tamahome fought on their way to theirs. Hotohori and Nuriko talked on their way to their room and Chiriko had fallen asleep so Mitsukake carried him to their room.

Okay! Yay! Another chapter finished, sorry I didn't update sooner, was really busy! And once again, thank you to every one who has reviewed my story so far (you know who you are) and I hope you all enjoy this chapter!


	12. The Mountain City

Disclaimer: Even though I wish I did, I don't own any of the Fushigi Yugi characters, but Tara is my character.

The Mountain city

The next morning, they readied themselves for their trip to the city at the bottom of the mountain. The little boy Tamahome had been helping out the day before waved and yelled to them.

"I promise I'll learn to ride a horse, then I'll ride it to your country!"

"I'll be looking forward to it!" Tamahome replied, smiling at the little boy.

"Good-bye Mr. Scary face!" The boy said to Tasuki. At least the slightest bit of anger was in Tasuki's voice as he grumbled and mumbled to himself about hitting the kid upside the head.

Bye everybody, thank you for all your help!" Miaka called back to the villagers in the distance. The group of 9 began to make their way down a long path that apparently lead to the city at the bottom of the mountain.

"Are we there yet?" Tara asked, slumping on the saddle of her horse.

"Not yet, we still have a couple hours longer to go. No da." Chichiri said, pointing in the direction of the city. Tara groaned and stopped her horse.

"We'll get there faster if we walk, how about I meet you guys there, I don't like horses." Tara said, hopping off of hers.

"If you were going to go, you couldn't go alone anyway, you always get inta trouble." Tasuki said, hopping off of his horse too.

"I'll go with you." He stated flatly.

"Then we'll meet you there, then figure out a plan." Tamahome replied.

"Yay! If we get there early, we're not in the cold anymore!" Tara felt something small land on her hand and looked down to see a not so small spider looking her straight in the eye. Her face was as pale as the snow on the ground. Tasuki had continued walking when he turned around and saw the spider, looked at her face, back at the spider, then pulled out his harisen. He got in position to fry the spider and grinned.

"LEKKA...SHIN'EN!" Fire burst from the fan and fried the spider... and Tara with it. Her face was still a little in shock and Tasuki just looked at her, her clothes just singed. Tara's eye twitched and she shook the spider corpse off of her hand. She walked over to the bandit, grabbed the harisen and smacked him on the head a couple times.

"Ow! The hell was that for?"

"You shot those flames at me!"

"No, I didn't, I was aimin' for the spider, stupid!" Anger was written all over her face and she punched him in the side of the face.

"I'll get there by myself, I don't need any help from you!" Tara yelled. She turned around and stomped off in the direction of the city.

Not long after, Tasuki had backtracked his way back to the others, royaly pissed. Nuriko looked at the bandit.

"Where's Tara?"

"She said she could get there herself, so I let her go by herself." He grumbled, rubbing his cheek where she had punched really hard.

"Hey, how'd you get so beat up? No da." Chichiri asked, tapping one of the many bumps on the bandits head.

"Hey, Ow! Stop that... Tara punched me, and smacked me on the head with my own harisen." Tasuki said it both angrily and in a bit of a whiney tone.

"Wow, so the "brave" bandit got beaten up by a girl." Tamahome teased.

"Hey, she's stronger than she looks, she was trained at Mt. Reikaku along side us other bandits!" Tasuki retorted. There was silence, Miaka was the one to break it.

"So she grew up with bandits?" Miaka asked, looking a little weirded out.

"Yep. Plain and simple, Nakago killed her family, friends and other people of her village and burnt it to the ground. Ask Kouji, he knows it better then I do, he was actually there, I just heard it from him." Tasuki replied, hopping back on the horse that he had been riding earlier.

"Either way, we have to find her before the Seiryuu warriors notice she's alone." Nuriko said, getting them back on track.

Tara continued to walk, and walk, and walk. She sighed.

"Maybe I shouldn't have been so mean to him, but when I get pissed off, I get pissed off... Nah, that's no excuse, well, when we all meet up at the city I'll apologize to him." Tara heard a sound in the bushes near her. Her eyes darted to where she heard the noise, nothing. She turned around and saw a weapon of sorts fly at her. She barely had any time to dodge it, and when she did, her back smacked into a tree.

"Who's there?" She asked, a bit of fear in her voice which she tried to hide... Silence.

'I was probably just imagining it, there's nothing here, it's just me, and the others back there.' Tara felt something sharp sting her arm.

"What the?" She turned around to see someone run off into the woods in the opposite direction, towards the others. Tara's eyes widened.

'gotta find them, gotta warn them!' She started to run back towards them and started feeling dizzy. She looked at her surroundings, which were now blurry and swirling.

"what... what's going on? Why's everything blurry and swirly..." Tara was now slurring as she ran and she was starting to stumble. She fell to her knees gasping for breath, her face now turning red from a fever.

"What was that thing that stung me?" Tara wouldn't be able to answer that question for awhile. She collapsed onto the pathway, hoping that her friends would find her soon.

Miaka looked into the distance and saw something on the pathway, saw someone on the pathway.

"Tamahome look! I think it's Tara, she doesn't look too good." Miaka said, hopping down from her horse when Tamahome stopped it. Everyone dismounted their horses and walked or ran over to the fallen warrior. Chichiri checked for a pulse, finding one and sighing in relief.

"She's still alive. No da."

"We have to get her to a hospital right away, my healing powers can do nothing for her at this point." Mitsukake said to the group. Nuriko picked her up and mounted his horse carefully so as not to hurt the unconcious girl.

When they reached the city, they instantly started looking for an inn so Tara could rest and try to fight off the poison creeping through her veins. The Inn was very nice looking, and the beds inside seemed comfortable enough, so they put her on one of the beds in Miaka's room. Downstairs the rest of the group was discussing how they would look for the Shinzaho. In the end the groups were Chichiri and Chiriko, Tasuki and Mitsukake and Hotohori, and Tamahome, Nuriko, and Miaka.

"Here, each group take one, they're flares, set it off when you have information about the Shinzaho." Chiriko said, handing each group one of the flares and heading off in a seperate direction from the others. Tamahome and his group walked up to a huge tablet with writing on it.

"Um, excuse me, do you know how to read this?" He asked an elderly woman.

"No one uses that language anymore, maybe a scholar would be able to read it though." She replied.

"My father could read it, he's a scholar." A man said, leaning against a nearby building, grinning slightly.

"Okay, take me to your father." Tamahome said, stepping forward.

"Wait Tamahome, we'll go too!" Miaka said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"No, you and Nuriko stay here, only I have to go." He replied, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. Tamahome followed the man to a bar where it smelled of alcohol, and drunk people, laughing their hangovers away.

"you told me your father was here, you liar."

"Oh, I'm not lying, he's right over there." The man pointed over to an old man, his black hair a mess.

"But we noticed you're travellers, and travellers have money, so hand it over."

"Me? Have money? Of course not, hey do you think you could lend me some?" Tamahome said, shrugging and looking at the ceiling. The man, now angry, growled a little.

"Why you... Get him boys!" The man pointed at Tamahome, sending his henchmen out to kill him. All that could be heard were punching noises in the background and the sound of people falling to the floor with a loud thud.

"What? But... How?"

"Don't mess with me." Tamahome said, picking the man up by the scruff of his neck.

"Put my son down, I believe he's learned his lesson." The old man with messy hair said, still sitting at his table.

"Alright, I got what I needed to know, now to get back to Miaka and Nuriko." Tamahome ran down the street only to run into someone.

"Are you oka... Yui? You're looking for the Shinzaho too, eh?"

"Tamahome, yes I am."

"Have you even thought of stopping being the priestess to be Miaka's friend?"

"After she betrayed me, I don't care what happens to her!" Yui yelled, running of in another direction. Tamahome was silent the rest of the way back to where Miaka and Nuriko waited.

Okay, another chapter, to everybody who's been wondering where the hell I am and not updating, It's because I was swamped with homework, and I went on a band trip, then I had to finish a picture the other day, then I had a study guide to do and an essay last night, but I'll try really really hard not to take this long to update again, and thanks for being so patient.


	13. The Cost of Protecting Someone

Author's Note: I'd just like to say thank you to all of you readers out there, for continually supporting me with your reviews, special thanks goes out to Pil-Z and Crimson Firefox, you two have reviewed the most on this story, and I appreciate it very much. I plan to keep writing this story to the end of Fushigi Yuugi, but I'm not sure if I'll stick the O.V.A plots in there or not yet.

The Cost of Protecting Someone

Tamahome ran back to Miaka and Nuriko swiftly, breathing heavily on the way through the backstreets of the city.

Meanwhile, Nuriko was battling a huge creature named Ashitare, one of the Seiryuu seven. He grabbed the blue-green flare that Chiriko had given him, he knew he'd have to use it to protect Miaka instead of the item's original purpose. The flare shot at Ashitare with blinding speed and a stream of multicolor light followed behind it like a shadow, and it exploded right in Ashitare's eye causing it to scream out in pain, it's skin sizzling when it had been almost burned off. It stepped back and staggered as it continued to scream in agony, holding it's face. It turned around and ran away, still screaming. Nuriko sighed in relief, but then winced when he felt the pain of his own wound, scratch marks from Ashitare, they were bleeding, but nothing serious. Miaka looked at Nuriko.

"Are you all right?" She asked, concerned and walking up to him. Nuriko nodded.

"Yeah, I'm all right, it's nothing serious, at least you're not hurt at all." They both turned when they heard footsteps behind them and saw Tamahome rushing towards them. Miaka had a huge smile on her face.

"You're all right!" She ran up to him, laughing and hugged him, holding him close. He smiled at her.

"I found out the whereabouts of the Shinzaho, it's on that mountain." Tamahome pointed at the huge mountain behind them, it was covered in snow and looked very windy as well. Nuriko took one long look at it.

"I'll go and check if that's true or not." He said, starting towards the mountain. Tamahome cut him off.

"Wait, there's something else I should tell you guys... Yui's here too, looking for the Shinzaho as well." Miaka's eye's widened and she was silent. Nuriko just looked at Tamahome.

"I'll go check, I'll be fine, you guys go check on Tara, she could be awake by now." Nuriko said, hopping on his horse. Tamahome frowned.

"Are you sure that you can handle it alone?"

"Don't worry, it'll be a-ok." Nuriko smiled at them both and headed off towards the mountain, becoming smaller as he got farther away. Miaka looked Tamahome in the eye.

"Is Yui really here?"

"I wouldn't lie to you Miaka, she's here looking for the Shinzaho, like we are." Miaka looked down.

"Let's go check on Tara, like Nuriko said, she could be awake by now." She looked at him again and smiled, heading off towards the inn. Tamahome looked back at the mountain, still sensing Nuriko's presence. He followed Miaka towards the inn.

Nuriko had gotten off of the horse, the snow was too deep for the horse to continue on. The wind was whipping at his newly cut hair, his hand were in front of his face to protect it. up ahead he saw what looked like a huge boulder in front of a cave. He had a small smile on his face, he had found it! The Shinzaho had to be in there. He was right near the boulder when he heard laughing behind him. Nuriko turned to see that creature, Ashitare laughing at him as he got closer.

"You again?"

"You're going to pay for taking my eye!" Ashitare replied, leaping at the purple-haired Suzaku warrior, swinging his claws. Nuriko dodged out of the way and tried to kick Ashitare, but he was too fast and blocked it, sending Nuriko flying through the cold air. Ashitare punched Nuriko while he was trying to get up and get his balance. Nuriko screamed in pain and Ashitare picked him up and jabbed his claws through Nuriko's side, blood starting to drip out of the huge wound on Nuriko's chest.

"You...shouldn't have attacked... Nuriko!" Nuriko said, starting to beat Ashitare up now. He punched and kicked and threw Ashitare around, until he was dead. Nuriko dropped onto his knees.

"Well, it looks like I blew it big time... How am I going to look superior to Miaka now?" He smiled and laughed to himself. He stumbled over to the boulder, and wished to his bracelets that he could lift it. It took all the strength he could muster to lift he, and he threw it aside, it landing on the white snow. He fell backwards into the welcoming snow, sighing. He knew he was going to die, it was the cost of helping and protecting the ones you cared about.

Tamahome looked out the window at the mountain, feeling a drop in Nuriko's presence. He stood up from the chair he was sitting in, it falling on the floor with a clatter. Miaka looked at him.

"What's wrong Tamahome?"

"I think something happened to Nuriko. I'm going to go check."

"I'm going too, Tara is sleeping, so she should be fine for now until we get back." Miaka stood up and followed Tamahome out of the inn towards the mountain.

It didn't take long for them to reach the spot where Nuriko was. Tamahome ran over to Nuriko, holding him up.

"Hey, wake up! What happened?" Nuriko opened his eyes slowly and smiled at the fellow warrior.

"That creature that attacked me and Miaka... found me up here and attacked me... but I moved the boulder." Tamahome turned his eyes to where the cave was, a huge metal door was there. Miaka was kneeling beside Tamahome, crying.

"Miaka... don't cry, you gotta be strong and get that Shinzaho... so you can summon Suzaku and be with Tamahome... so be brave and don't cry..." Nuriko had a small smile on his face. Miaka stood up.

"I'll go get Mitsukake." She turned and started running and stopped as she felt Nuriko's presence dissapear.

"Nuriko? Nuriko, wake up." Tamahome was shaking Nuriko's body slightly so not to hurt him, but Nuriko was dead. Miaka turned around.

"He's gonna get up, he's just resting." Tamahome looked at her, a sad expression on his face. Tears were starting to prickle in her eyes. She turned around and started running away, not wanting to face the reality of Nuriko's death that had just occured.

At the same time that Nuriko died, all the other Suzaku warriors felt it and headed for the mountain. Tara, still laying on the bed in the inn sleeping, opened her eyes at the time of his death. She shakily sat up in bed.

"Nuriko?" She blinked as she felt dizzy again.

"Something happened..." She stood up and stumbled over to her jacket, putting it on and staggered out the door. She headed off towards the mountain slowly. Her head was throbbing, and she knew she shouldn't be out in the cold and snow, but she had to know what had happened to her warrior friend. When she was part way up the mountain, she fell to her knees in the deep snow. She stared at the top of the mountain, her destination, but she couldn't go any farther, she was feeling sleepy and her eyes started closing, welcoming her to the darkness of rest.

Tasuki and Chichiri were at the mountain now, and hopped off of their horses, starting the hike to the top of the mountain. Along the way Chichiri saw something in the snow, what looked like a person. He ran up to them to see that it was Tara, sleeping.

"What's she doing here?" Tasuki asked, as he poked her with his harisen.

"She must have felt it too then. No da." Chichiri said, picking her up, her face was cold from the wind and snow, and she was shaking, from the poison that still flowed through her veins.

"There's no time to take her back, so she'll have to come with us." Tasuki said, starting to walk again. When they reached the top, everyone was already there, grieving. They walked up to Tamahome, who had set Nuriko back down on the ground.

"What's Tara doing here, she was sleeping in the inn when we left." Tamahome said, meloncholy.

"We found her about half way up he mountain, and decided that if she woke up, she'd want to be here." Tasuki replied, tears starting to sting his eyes as he looked at his fallen comrad. He looked at Mitsukake.

"You can bring himback, can't ya?" His arm was on Mitsukake's shoulder.

"No, I can't do that, my powers aren't that great." Tasuki walked over to the boulder that had been thrown and sat against it. He was crying now. Tara slowly opened her eyes and saw Nuriko laying there, and tears stung her cold face. Nuriko was buried on that mountain and they said their goodbyes, continuing their journey for the Shinzaho.

Okay, another chapter done, as I was writing this, i was starting to cry... it's such a sad part of the story!


	14. Treasure of the Mountain

Author's Note: I'm extremely sorry to everyone for taking so long to update! I got sick again and it took me a little while to catch up in school again and then we got lots of projects and finals are coming up and I haven't started studying yet! So, please forgive me for the lateness of this chapter, I'll try harder to update sooner!

Treasure of the Mountain

Miaka and the others slowly started their way through the cold, damp, dark cave in the mountain. Tasuki was carrying Tara, who had fallen asleep again right before they started their way into the cave for the Shinzaho. Her breathing was back to normal at the moment and she shifted slightly when a drop of water from the ceiling landed on her head. Tamahome walked beside Miaka the whole way, trying to comfort her. He could see Nuriko's bracelets shimmer in the slightest bit of light. Miaka looked down at the bracelets, and quietly sighed as they shimmered.

"He did it so that we could advance in our journey Miaka, so we have to get the Shinzaho, for Nuriko." Tamahome said, placing a hand on her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Miaka looked at him and gave a slight smile as she continued to walk. Then they stopped, two figures were standing in front of two more doors, standing tall and ready for battle if necessary. One had long silver hair and an eye patch on one eye, and the other was slightly shorter with dark raven hair and a hat that stood on his head.

"What business do you have here?" asked the taller, silver haired man. Tamahome looked at the man, giving him a sideways glance as he stepped forward.

"We're here for the Shinzaho! Now step aside please." Chichiri looked at the men as they grabbed their weapons and got into battle stances. Tasuki stepped over to the side and was about to set Tara down when he saw Tamahome rush towards them and smack into an invisible wall. Miaka, just out of reach from Tamahome was on the other side of the barrier, shocked. The two men looked at her, then at each other.

"Are you the Suzaku priestess?" The shorter one asked, staring at her. Miaka looked at her eight warriors, then back at them.

"Yes, I am the priestess of Suzaku." She replied, swallowing hard and shooting a quick glance at the bracelets that she had received earlier.

"Then we shall put you to a test to make sure you are worthy of the Shinzaho that our priestess left behind." The shorter one said, looking up at his comrade. The taller one nodded his head.

"But in order for you to do this test, you'll have to strip." Miaka looked at them in disbelief and Tamahome's face turned crimson.

"Miaka, don't do it, they're just perverts!" Tamahome yelled through gritted teeth. Chichiri looked at Tamahome and so did Chiriko, Mitsukake and Tasuki, who had just set Tara down against the wall so she wouldn't get hurt. Her body was almost limp at the time being and it was cold as ice. Meanwhile, Miaka was stripping down to her underwear.

"That's as far as you get." She said, covering herself with her arms.

"That will do." The taller one half mumbled, lifting his hand to the air. Ice started to begin to form at Miaka's feet, the freezing sensation being to surge up Miaka's body as more ice formed over the first layer and moved up her body.

"If you can break the ice forming around you, we will know that you are worthy of the Shinzaho." The taller one said, standing there, watching closely. Miaka continued to try and break the forming ice, now up to her waist, but it formed faster than she could break it. It crawled its way up to her neck and then completely surrounded her body, stopping her from being able to breathe.

"Now she'll only have a certain amount of time before she dies of suffocation." The shorter man said, almost laughing at them. Tamahome was horrified, all he could do was watch as his true love and priestess was left to die if she didn't crush the icicle that had almost become a part of her. Chichiri, Chiriko, Mitsukake, and Tasuki all stared in disbelief too as Miaka struggled to keep consciousness and break the ice. Just then a flash of red light surrounded her body and shattered the cold ice. She looked down at her arms and noticed the bracelets had changed form to aid her.

"Nuriko…" She breathed, before looking back at her other warriors, one still unconscious. Tamahome ran up to her, noticing the barrier that had barred his path was now gone, and hugged her. The other warriors gathered around her too, to congratulate her on succeeding. The two men stepped closer to the group as Miaka put her clothes back on.

"Well done, Priestess of Suzaku. Now follow us to the room with Genbu's treasure. Miaka got up and followed them to the set of double doors and let out a gasp when she saw what the room inside looked like. It had beautiful light blue drapes hanging from tall pillars and a red carpet on which to walk on. She stepped across the carpet, walking as though she were afraid to break the huge room. The other Suzaku warriors waited outside as she went and collected the Shinzaho. Tasuki had gone and gotten Tara from where she was resting and was carrying her on his back, she still felt cold as the ice on the walls. Miaka walked back out of the room to where all her friends were and turned around to the two men.

"Now our job is done, we were guarding this chamber for 200 years until someone worthy as you, Priestess of Suzaku, came by to claim the Shinzaho, a beautiful necklace that our priestess left behind for other priestesses." The two men started to disappear and blend into the surroundings.

"So they were here for 200 years. No da." Chichiri muttered under his breath. He looked at Tara, still sleeping.

"We should really get here somewhere warm. No da."

As all the warriors chatted away, talking about how they got the Shinzaho, a wolf came up to them and snatched it right out of Miaka's hand. The wolf's face was half burnt, and it looked almost as if it were smiling at them. It raced off into the woods and Miaka let out a little scream.

"The Shinzaho!" She raced after the wolf, worried about the treasure she had just received and how quickly she had just lost it. She could hear the warriors behind her, calling her name trying to find her, but she just continued to run after the wolf.

The wolf reached a little camp and ran to the man standing outside the biggest tent, Nakago. The wolf gave Nakago the precious treasure and right there, Nakago gathered a ball of chi together and shot it right at the wolf, Ashitare, killing him.

"Now I have the Shinzaho, and we didn't have to do a thing to get it." Nakago said, holding the necklace rather strongly.

Okay, I'm going to stop this chapter here, and I'd just like to say…. I'm really sorry that this took forever to get p, but I had school, exams are coming up, projects! Oh man, the list just keeps going and going and going… like the Energizer bunny! Anyway, I hoped you all liked this chapter; I spent about 2 hours writing this one just to let you know, so I worked hard, and if it's not a very long chapter, that's because in Word I made the font pretty small. Anyway, in summary, I'm sorry it took so long!


	15. Tara\'s Awakening

Author's Note: Once again, forgive me for not updating sooner! I had my exams and then I couldn't figure out how I wanted this next chapter to work… so, please forgive me for the lateness of this chapter! And thank you to everybody who reviews this story, especially Pil-Z and Crimson Firefox.

Disclaimer: I don't own Fushigi Yugi or any of its characters.

Tara's Awakening

Miaka had raced off after Ashitare, and Tamahome had found Taiitsukun who had told them that Miaka was sick and that she would catch up later. Tamahome had gone back to the others, who were waiting with the horses at the bottom of the mountain.

"Did you find her, no da?" Chichiri asked, waiting by his black and brown horse. Tamahome shook his head, and walked over to his horse and mounted it. Mitsukake and Chiriko both got on their horse and Chichiri got on his. Tasuki was the last one to mount his horse because he was still carrying a sleeping Tara. She had regained some color and warmth in her face, meaning she was fighting off the poison a little. Tasuki placed her on the horse first and then mounted the horse, he let out a sigh of relief.

"She needs to lose some weight, she's pretty damn heavy!" He said, readying the horse for departure. He heard her let out a groan as she shifted slightly, almost falling off the horse, but Tasuki shoved her back in the other direction.

"We should head to Sairo, Miaka said she'd meet us there." Tamahome said, and started to move out towards the next Shinzaho. The others followed behind him, not saying a word until they reached the desert.

"Hey look, there it is!" Tasuki yelled.

"You guys keep going, Miaka should have caught up by now." Tamahome said, almost to himself, and turned his horse around, speeding back to where his true love was. The others looked back at him for a few moments, and then obeyed what he had said before, they began to head over to where Sairo was.

A person in a tree was talking to Yui and Suboshi. His name was Tomo.

"Yes, I have set up the perfect illusion, they'll think it's real!" He said, walking out from inside the tree to face the two.

"I shall now steal the priestess' virginity, making it so she can never summon Suzaku!" And with that, Tomo left the two frightened teens to just stand there.

"Let's go Lady Yui, we have things to do." Suboshi said, terror still trembling in his voice and Yui nodded, mounting her horse.

Tasuki set Tara down on a bed in Sairo, she needed all the rest she could get with her condition. He saw her shift slightly again.

"Ya think she'll be okay Chichiri?" Tasuki asked, staring over at his friend sitting at the table.

"I'm sure it's not deadly, from what I can tell, but I've never seen someone poisoned this bad, if she were a regular human, she would have died on the spot." He replied, frowning under his mask. Tasuki then noticed something on the shelves behind his companion… sake. Within the next hour, Tara's health hadn't improved, but Tasuki had become quite drunk, he was making impersonations with the two bottles he had just finished off.

"Look! I'm a dragonfly!" He placed the bottles on his shoulders to make wings and was standing on one leg to show he was "flying". Chichiri sighed and tried to ignore Tasuki. Then Tasuki impersonated Miaka's hairstyle.

"Look at me, I've got Miaka's hairstyle hiccup." He almost fell to the floor he was so drunk, but since he had been drunk like this many times before, she kept his balance and continued his impersonations. Chichiri was deep in thought.

"How is it that all the people here in Sairo are all treating us so nicely?" He continued to think when he looked up to see that Tara had vanished.

"Tasuki, where'd Tara go?"

"Wha? She's missin'? When'd that happen? hiccup." He quickly regained his composure when he realized what Chichiri meant.

"What do you mean she's missing?" He was still a little drunk, but mostly sober now, he rubbed his eyes and looked over at the bed that Tara had been asleep on, and there was no Tara sleeping there anymore.

"We should go look for her." He said to Chichiri, who in turn stood up and grabbed his staff.

"You're right, let's go get Mitsukake and Chiriko from downstairs." The two warriors ran down the stairs to where Mitsukake and Chiriko were. Chiriko was reading a long scroll and Mitsukake was working with potions.

"You guys, come on, Tara's missing, no da." Chichiri said, putting Chiriko's scroll down. He looked up at the blue-haired man and nodded. Mitsukake carefully placed the potions he had been working on, onto the desk.

"All right, let's go." Was his quick reply.

Soi looked at the sleeping girl lying there in front of her. The girl had been poisoned by one of Nakago's concoctions a day or so ago. She had managed to fight off the poison quite well, but not well enough to fight the effects. She would soon attack her fellow Suzaku warriors when the time was to come. She grabbed Tara and shook her.

_She's a sound sleeper…this will be harder then I thought it would be._ Soi thought to herself. Then a grin appeared on her face. She threw Tara at the ground causing a cut on her jaw and above the eye. She picked her up again and threw at a nearby rock, breaking the rock and causing Tara to scream. Soi hadn't expected the scream, and she feared that in their illusion, the Suzaku warriors would hear. She peered over the edge of the cliff and saw that they had heard her, and were running towards the noise. She had to finish this fast now. She picked Tara up again, this time by the back of her neck and felt her grab her arm and squeeze it hard. Soi dropped her and held her arm, the girl had almost broken it.

_She's strong! I thought she would be weaker then this, hiding behind her summons…_. Soi's face was pure horror. Tara rose to her feet and looked Soi in the eye, Tara's wounds were completely healed! Soi then noticed that Tara was turning her attention to Tasuki and the others.

"Not yet, Seiryuu warrior, it's not time to kill them yet, for now, you will go to where Tomo is." Soi sourly said and noticed that Tara was listening to what she was saying, she had started walking off in the other direction towards where Tomo was dealing with the priestess and Amiboshi. This girl was going to be the key to beating the Suzaku warriors and their beloved priestess, just as Nakago had told her. The girl could be used for good or evil, and she was going to kill Suzaku's warriors soon enough.

"Tasuki, slow down, we don't even know where she is, she could have been a part of that illusion all along!" Chichiri yelled at the fire-red haired teenager. Tasuki stopped for a moment and turned towards his companions.

"It's all my fault this happened," He quietly said. "I should have been watchin' her." He continued, his fist shaking.

"We'll find her Tasuki, don't worry, we feel responsible for this too you know." Chiriko said, looking up at Tasuki.

"Let's keep going in the direction of that scream we heard, no da." Chichiri added, and then started running in the direction of the cliff.

Soi had left Tara to head towards Tomo on her own, because she had been ordered to deal with a distraught Tamahome, which she was going to do. She was disguised as Miaka through a charm Tomo had placed on Soi not long ago, and she was going to seduce Tamahome, buying Tomo time to do what he was told to.

Tara headed towards Tomo, her eyes were clouded over with hate and the poison. Her memories had been altered so that it had seemed that the Suzaku warriors were the ones who made her life miserable and hurtful. Tasuki was the one who burned her village, Mitsukake hadn't done anything to heal them, Chichiri was laughing and causing pain to the elderly, Chiriko just stood and watched with a smirk on his face, Hotohori had sent his warriors to help kill the people, and Tamahome was attacking her family, brutally slaughtering them. These things caused Tara to hate them, and feel that they needed to be destroyed. She saw Tomo up ahead in a trance with his shell and Amiboshi was tied up in vines. She noticed that Amiboshi had just broken his fingers to release himself from the illusion, and used his flute to break the illusion on Miaka. Tomo was snapped out of his trance and he grimaced.

"You little brat! You ruined the illusion!" Tomo yelled, and saw Tara walking towards them. Miaka also noticed her.

"Tara! You're awake!" Miaka had a small smile on her face.

"Should I destroy her?" Tara asked, looking at Tomo. Tomo shook his head.

"No, let's let her suffer, she saw her celestial warrior, Tamahome, fall off of the cliff." Tomo said, looking over at Miaka, who had passed out again. Tara's attention turned towards a spray of fire that came from a nearby hill. It was Tasuki, and he had a huge grin plastered on his face.

"I see that yer all right, Tara." Tasuki said, getting ready to run over to her, but Chichiri grabbed his shoulder.

"Wait, Tasuki, look at her eyes, they're clouded over, I don't think she's herself right now." Chichiri said, as he let go of Tasuki's shoulder. Tasuki looked at her again, and realized that something wasn't right. Tara looked over at Tomo.

"Do you want me to destroy them?" She asked, emotionlessly. Tomo looked over at the group, thinking she didn't stand a chance, but then there's the possibility that they won't attack her.

"Yes, puppet, go and destroy them all!" Tomo yelled, and Tara shot towards the group of Suzaku warriors.

Okay, I'm stopping it there. And once again, please forgive me for taking so long to update, I don't do it on purpose! Anyway, I hope you like this chapter, it took me a while to think of it, with my summer brain, soon I'm going to be away on vacation though, so I probably won't update for a month or so… anyway, please review if you have the time, much appreciated!


	16. Seiryuu's Advantage

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Fushigi Yuugi, but Tara is my character.

Author's Note: I would just like to say thank you to everyone who reviews this story, I really appreciate it, and it's what inspires me to continue this fanfiction.

Seiryuu's Advantage

"Go puppet, destroy them all!" Tomo yelled as Tara began to charge at her former allies. Her face looked paler than usual, and her eyes were vacant, showing no signs of her being there. She continued to charge at the Suzaku warriors without a second thought, she would kill them if they didn't do something; her mind was set to destroy them. The Suzaku warriors all jumped in different directions to avoid her. She skidded to a halt and started chanting something quietly. Her body began to glow slightly as she continued to chant, the closer to finishing the chant, the louder her got.

"I summon you great spirit!" She yelled, the glow that was around her body shot up into the air, forming a spirit of a woman with long flowing blue hair, she wore a blue shirt with long, silver sleeves and a long flowing blue dress that went down to her knees, at the edge of the dress and shirt, icicles were embroidered, symbolizing she was a ice spirit. The spirit formed many icicles shaped like daggers and threw them at the warriors who were gathered in one spot. Tasuki grabbed his tessen and readied it.

"REKKA SHIN'EN!" He shouted, flames shooting out of the tessen, melting the daggers and hitting the spirit. The spirit screeched and disappeared into little icicles that stuck in the ground. Tara winced in pain as her arm surged with pain. When the spirits get hurt, it damaged her too.

"Fine, I'll use another spirit then, and this time it will destroy you!" She said, pointing at the warriors. Miaka had finally regained consciousness and could only watch as Tomo laughed at the warriors.

"You won't defeat her; you all seem to be having enough trouble getting near her." Tomo said in-between laughter. Miaka looked over at Tara, as she was calling another spirit. This spirit had short emerald green hair to her chin, and wings made of leaves and a long dress that covered her body, her ears were pointed at the tip and she had emerald green eyes that matched her hair, she was the earth and forest spirit. The spirit shot out vines at the warriors, tangling Chiriko and Mitsukake within them. The vines had thorns attached to them, causing them to cry out in pain as they began to bleed. Tara shot a glance over at Miaka and grinned.

"Spirit, let them go, attack that girl!" The spirit obeyed and let Chiriko and Mitsukake go. The spirit then shot vines over in Miaka's direction, but something got in the way. When the vines stopped, they were tangled around Tamahome, he had come back from falling off of the cliff, and with him were two older people. Miaka looked at Tamahome and rubbed her eyes, it was really him, and he hadn't been killed!

"Well, if it isn't Tamahome." Tomo said, with a small smile on his painted face.

"I missed…" Tara said, snapping her fingers. The spirit released Tamahome from the vines, and then the spirit disappeared, leaving a flower behind to fall to the ground. Tomo was too busy laughing to see Suboshi behind him, and Suboshi shot his weapon right through him. Tomo stopped laughing, and fell to the ground, a hole in his back. Suboshi noticed his brother over near Miaka and jogged over to him while Tara continued to fight the other warriors. She tried to punch Chichiri but he moved out of the way and hit her in the back with his staff. Having lived with the bandits for a few years, Tara had learned at least the basics of fist fighting, but nothing fancy. She kicked Chichiri in stomach and he stumbled backwards having lost his breath. Tasuki looked at her, not wanting to attack her as she punched him in the face. He spat out a bit of blood onto the ground and shook his head.

"Well, you certainly got better at fighting when I left, but you still can't beat me!" He taunted and laughed. Tara growled, and tried to punch him, but he grabbed her leg and flung her in the other direction, she smashed into a rock behind him and slid to the ground. She coughed and stood back up, staggering a little as she did so. There was blood trickling down her arm where she had been burned before. Chichiri got up, having gotten his breath back, and was ready to attack at anytime if he had to.

"Tasuki, we have to make sure we don't kill her, she's still one of us, no da."

"I have no intentions of killing her, don't worry." Tasuki said, taking a fighter's stance. Chichiri started chanting a spell. Tara started to run at them, swaying a little as she ran. Tasuki timed his punch perfectly to knock her out, but she grabbed his arm and threw him like he had done to her before. The side of his face smacked into a nearby rock wall. He slowly turned to face her, blood all over the side of his face, he tried to get up, but he fell to the ground and fainted. Tamahome was still bleeding from the vine's thorns, as were Chiriko and Mitsukake. Miaka was sitting beside Tamahome as the battle continued. Chiriko was almost in tears seeing Tasuki faint and Mitsukake was talking to Tamahome to figure out who he would cure.

"Let's see what happens to Chichiri before we think of that, he might get beaten up even worse than Tasuki did. The two older people who had shown up with Tamahome hadn't said anything yet, waiting until they had everyone's attention so they didn't have to explain it more than once.

"You can't win Chichiri, I've got the advantage." Tara said, stand there, ready to attack if he tried anything. Chichiri sighed.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this… I'm sorry Tara." Chichiri said, while releasing one of his spells, sending a huge gust of wind at her. Tara went flying into the air and grabbed onto a nearby rock wall, the one that she had thrown Tasuki into minutes before.

"I believe it's me who has the advantage now Tara, no da." He noticed that she had begun chanting as she clung to the rock, and the forest spirit came back again, catching her and putting her safely on the ground.

"If we're using spells, then I can use my summons." Tara said, sending the forest spirit at the blue haired man. He braced himself for the attack when the spirit disappeared into another flower.

"Wha…What have I done?" Tara said, sitting down on the ground. She had temporarily gotten control back…or so they had thought, Tara used this time to have the spirit show up again and smack Chichiri in the side of the head.

"What a fool, to think you thought that I wouldn't attack you." Tara said, walking slowly over to the now unconscious Chichiri.

"I win this round." Tara said, looking over in the others' direction. She then jumped off the cliff and headed to where Nakago and the other Seiryuu warriors were.

"Well, now what, we're not fit to fight at the moment…" Tamahome said, looking at Tasuki and Chichiri. Miaka looked over at Mitsukake and Chiriko who were heading over to them, limping or holding onto an arm.

"We'll just have to hope that we get there in time to stop the summoning of Seiryuu for the moment." Said Mitsukake who had sat down near the others. The Suzaku seven sure had taken a beating… and to think it was mostly because of one of their own.

Alright! This chapter is finally done, and I thought I wouldn't be updating anytime soon… anyway, I hope everyone liked this chapter. I'm going to be going on vacation soon so I won't be updating for at least 2 weeks just to warn you all.


	17. The Summoning of Seiryuu

Disclaimer: I don't own Fushigi Yuugi, it belongs to Yuu Watase

The Summoning of Seiryuu

Tara joined the other Seiryuu warriors and sat down.

"Did you destroy them?" Asked Soi, looking at the girl sitting.

"…No, I didn't, but I injured them quite badly." Soi slapped Tara and screeched.

"You were supposed to finish them off!" Soi slapped her again and stomped off. Tara held her hand to her face, now red from being slapped. She then held her hands in front of herself, and bent her fingers slightly.

"Wh-…Where am I?" Tara looked at her surroundings; the last thing she could remember was passing out on the mountain before seeing… Nuriko. She lowered her head and held in her tears. _I have to get out of here and back to the others! What if I did something terrible!_ A feeling of guilt washed over her. She got up from where she had been sitting and ran down the hallway, checking over her shoulder and around corners constantly. She heard voices coming down the hallway and ducked into a room. She turned around after closing the door to find Miaka there.

"Miaka?" Tara asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Don't hurt me!" Miaka yelled, shielding her head.

"What? I'm not going to hurt you!" Tara stepped closer to the miko, and Miaka's reaction was to step back, tripping over the floor.

"Kya!" Miaka screamed as she fell to the floor. Tara started to laugh as Miaka sat up.

"Okay, I believe you Tara; you're not going to hurt me, only you would laugh at me."

"Heh, see, I told you I wouldn't hurt you, but I guess the floor had a different plan for you." Miaka let out a giggle and stood up.

"Why are you here Miaka?" Tara asked; a serious expression now on her face.

"I got captured right after you left, and they brought me here." She answered, wiping the dust off of her clothes.

"Well, we can't just stay here; we have to find the others…" As Tara said that she heard voices coming closer.

"Stay quiet!" Tara commanded as the voices got even closer to the door.

"As I was saying, she has to be here somewhere Chichiri; they won't just let her go like that!" Tamahome's voice droned through the door. Miaka's face lit up and she smacked right into the door as she tried to run to him.

"What was that, no da?"

"It came from in here." Tara pulled Miaka a bit farther away from the door so she wouldn't be hit by it as Tamahome opened it.

"Tamahome!" Miaka yelled as she leapt onto the Suzaku warrior. Tamahome was a little startled, but embraced her back. Tara slipped into the shadows as they celebrated having saved Miaka.

"Come on Tara, let's go!" Miaka said, turning around to look for her friend.

"Tara's here too?" Asked Tamahome, concerned.

"Don't worry! She's back to normal now! She's not evil anymore." Miaka replied, smiling. Tara stepped back out of the corner of the little prison room, her head lowered down, holding back tears. She held in a sob as Miaka grabbed her hand and pulled her along as they ran through the hallways of the castle, looking for the others so they could stop the Seiryuu summoning.

"Yui got the other Shinzaho from Tatara when I found him here," Miaka said to Tara, who was now more lively and running down the halls on her own.

"He gave me the Shinzaho and Yui had tricked me into believing she wanted to be friends with me again…" Miaka's voice trailed off and she continued to run.

"Well then, we'll have to get it back with the help of Chiriko, Tasuki, and Mitsukake!" Tara said cheerily. Everyone else was silent.

"Tara…Chiriko is dead." Chichiri said, his mask in his hand showing his saddened face. Tara was silent, holding back her tears again as she ran.

"Damn those Seiryuu bastards!" She screamed in the hallway. Miaka looked at her and had a small smile on her face.

"We will make them pay for this, I'll make them!" Tara said, more to herself than to the others. When they reached a room somewhat near the top of the building, Mitsukake saw them.

"Look, there they are, and Tara's with them." He stated, looking at his red-headed companion.

"Tara's with them?" Tasuki immediately turned towards them, seeing them all running towards him and Mitsukake._ Thank god she's alright; I was worried 'bout 'er. _He tried not to show how happy he was, and just grinned.

"Hey, yer finally back to yer senses, eh?" Tara had a wide smile on her face.

"Yep, and I'm gonna kick those Seiryuu warrior's asses!" She said, punching the air. When they stopped running to talk and strategize for a few minutes, Tara looked towards a nearby door, only to see Nakago stare right back at her.

"So, you finally regained your senses did you?" He frowned and shot a chi blast towards the group. Tamahome quickly jumped in front and stopped it with one of his own chi blasts.

"I can handle this one you guys, protect Miaka." Everyone except Tamahome formed a circle around Miaka, so they could protect her from all sides. Tara touched her cheek where she had been slapped by Soi and almost growled.

"I'm going to finish you off Nakago!"

"I'm afraid that won't happen since I have a summoning to go to!" He quickly dodged Tamahome's punch and grabbed him and whispered something in his ear, then kissed him and threw him to the ground. Tamahome, obviously disturbed by this, tried to run after him, but Nakago disappeared through the doors, and when Tamahome opened them, he was on a balcony.

"What the? How is that possible?" Tara asked, as she looked towards her right.

"You guys, look!" She pointed over to a roof where Yui stood, beginning the summoning of Seiryuu. Miaka screamed her name and tried to reason with her, but to no avail. And soon enough, a large dragon covered the sky and shrunk down to the ground. Soon enough, Yui had made her first wish…to seal off Suzaku so it couldn't be summoned… All of the Suzaku warriors felt their strength begin to drain.

After their defeat, they headed back to Hong-Nan to see Hotohori. He said that he too had felt his powers drain. As Tara walked down the halls in thought, she looked at her gloved left hand. _I wonder…_ She slowly removed the glove to see her Seiryuu mark still there on her hand. _So, I'm the only one left with these type of powers… Then again, I don't know how to use my Seiryuu powers, only my Suzaku ones, I should see what they are…_ She ran out to the courtyard and tapped all of her power into unleashing what she had in her, and a blast of ice hit a nearby flower, freezing it completely. She walked over to it and gently touched it and it shattered. Tara sat there for a little while thinking, until she heard someone behind her.

"Hey." She heard a familiar voice say.

"Hi Tasuki. Something bothering you?" She could always tell when something was wrong with him, it was always so obvious.

"I wanted to know if ya remember anythin' from when you were under that spell." He looked towards the ground.

"No, nothing, why?" She tried to look at his face, but he always looked away. He was remembering the fight between the two of them and how she hesitated at that one point.

"Never mind, it's nothin' anyway." He turned around, still looking down.

"Tasuki…I…I..I love you…" Tara looked at the ground herself, blushing deep red.

Gotta end it there, not for the sake of cliff-hangers, but because of schoolwork. Oh man, I really did it this time, I took FOREVER to update….I feel so bad about it too, anyway, thank you for being ever so patient for me to update!


End file.
